Google Pay rolls out Aadhaar-based authentication for UPI activation

Google Pay has launched an Aadhaar-based UPI registration via the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) to help users set their UPI PIN without a debit card.

According to Google, Aadhaar-based onboarding will make UPI (unified payment interface) available to more users and further financial inclusion.

At present, this feature is available to account holders at banks such as Punjab National Bank, Central Bank of India, Paytm Payments Bank, and Federal Bank, among others. Google expects more banks to be part of this development soon.

UPI activation using Aadhaar-based OTP authentication on Google Pay will bring in simplicity and convenience to users, said Sharath Bulusu, Director of Product Management, Google.

"Over the years, we are very heartened by the ready adoption digital payments have witnessed in the country, and this feature will help boost the UPI ecosystem even further.”

For the onboarding process, users have to ensure that the phone numbers registered with UIDAI (Unique Identification Authority of India) and the bank are the same, and their bank account is linked to Aadhaar.

Once this is done, users can opt between debit cards or Aadhaar-based UPI onboarding on the Google Pay app. After selecting the Aadhaar option, users must enter the first six digits of their Aadhaar number to initiate the process.

To complete the authentication, users have to enter the OTPs received from UIDAI and their bank. Their respective banks will complete the process, and users can set their UPI PIN.

Once a user enters the first six digits of the Aadhaar number, the information is sent to UIDAI via NPCI for validation, ensuring the safety of the users' Aadhaar number.

Google has clarified that it does not store the Aadhaar number of users and merely acts as a facilitator in sharing the Aadhaar number with NPCI for validation.

Customers can use the Google Pay app to make transactions or check their account balance.